
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's foreign minister, said on Wednesday that his country is closely following developments involving a Chinese military ship moored in Sri Lanka.
"What happens in our neighborhood, any developments which have a bearing on our security, obviously are of interest to us. "I think our spokesmen said a while ago that we are obviously monitoring any development that has bearing on our interest very, very carefully," Jaishankar said at a press conference convened by Thailand and India's foreign ministries in Bangkok.
Despite objections from India and the US, Sri Lanka authorised China's dual-purpose navy monitoring vessel, Yuan Wang 5, to dock at the southern Hambantota Port, which is under Chinese control on a 99-year lease.
According to a Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry statement, India and the United States did not provide "concrete reasons" to reject entry, therefore Yuan Wang 5 was permitted to berth after being held back for a few days for consultations.
The statement underlined that the clearance was conditional on the Chinese vessel not doing any'research' (spying?) while in Hambantota and would only stop to refill its supplies.
Watch | Gravitas: Chinese ship to spy on India from Sri Lanka?
Two ministers met on Wednesday to discuss areas of cooperation such as tourism, commerce, and cyber security.
The two nations also agreed on significant infrastructure projects, such as motorways connecting India, Myanmar, and Thailand, but acknowledged that there are many obstacles to surmount, particularly given Myanmar's ongoing political uncertainty.
Don Pramudwinai, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's Minister of External Affairs, are co-chairing the 9th Thailand-India Joint Commission.
Both parties will witness the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding between Thailand and India.
(With inputs from agencies)
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